GOP report recommends Liz Cheney be criminally investigated over Jan. 6 work

(The Hill) - Republicans released a report Tuesday reviewing the “failures and politicization” of the now-disbanded House Jan. 6 committee, capping their investigation by recommending a criminal investigation into former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.).

The 128-page interim report forwards many of the claims circulated by the GOP since the committee was organized, complaining the Jan. 6 select committee was improperly constituted and unfairly pinned blame on President-elect Trump.

“Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi’s multimillion-dollar Select Committee was a political weapon with a singular focus to deceive the public into blaming President Trump for the violence on January 6 and to tarnish the legacy of his first Presidency,” the report states.

The report’s conclusion also calls for an FBI investigation into Cheney, accusing her of witness tampering by being in touch with star witness Cassidy Hutchinson, a former White House aide.

It’s a claim that if pursued would likely face significant roadblocks but that nonetheless comes as Trump has suggested members of the Jan. 6 panel should “go to jail” for their work.

The suggestion and the panel’s report at large was excoriated by Cheney.

“January 6th showed Donald Trump for who is really is – a cruel and vindictive man who allowed violent attacks to continue against our Capitol and law enforcement officers while he watched television and refused for hours to instruct his supporters to stand down and leave,” Cheney said in a statement noting the numerous Republican witnesses who testified before the panel.

“Chairman [Barry] Loudermilk’s (R-Ga.) ‘Interim Report’ intentionally disregards the truth and the Select Committee’s tremendous weight of evidence, and instead fabricates lies and defamatory allegations in an attempt to cover up what Donald Trump did. Their allegations do not reflect a review of the actual evidence, and are a malicious and cowardly assault on the truth. No reputable lawyer, legislator or judge would take this seriously.”

At the core of the report’s assertions are Cheney’s contacts with Hutchinson, who was previously represented by another lawyer before changing representation and ultimately agreeing to testify before the panel in a blockbuster hearing.

Hutchinson’s initial lawyer, Stefan Passantino, was accused of encouraging her to say she remembered little about the day and said she would be able to get a good job in Trump World.

The interim report shows texts between Hutchinson and Alyssa Farah Griffin, another former White House aide, and accuses Farah Griffin of acting as a backchannel between the two women.

It later notes that Hutchinson reached out to Cheney, with the lawmaker in her own book noting she advised the aide to seek an attorney as “every witness deserves an attorney who will represent their interests exclusively."

Any such inquiry into Cheney would raise a litany of other legal questions.

Cheney would likely assert that any actions she took through her work on the panel are protected by the Speech or Debate Clause, which protects lawmakers from court action related to their work.

Witness tampering could also prove a difficult route in court, as such charges typically relate to encouraging a witness to lie or shift their story — allegations Hutchinson originally leveled at Passantino.

While the report likewise suggests some aspects of Hutchinson’s testimony were inaccurate — including her relaying a story told to her by others claiming to have witnessed Trump lunge at his driver — it does not make any recommendations regarding her.

“It is unusual—and potentially unethical—for a Member of Congress conducting an investigation to contact a witness if the Member knows that the individual is represented by legal counsel,” the interim report states.

Loudermilk, chair of the subcommittee that assembled the report, was previously scrutinized by the disbanded House panel after he gave tours of the Capitol to two men who later participated in the march to the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

He’s also accused the panel of deleting evidence it collected, a claim countered by members of the panel who say they retained everything they were legally required to, which has since been publicly posted on a government website.

“The January 6th Committee’s hearings and report featured scores of Republican witnesses, including many of the most senior officials from Trump’s own White House, campaign and Administration,” Cheney said.

“All of this testimony was painstakingly set out in thousands of pages of transcripts, made public along with a highly detailed and meticulously sourced 800 page report.”

Loudermilk told The Hill last week that he is hopeful leadership will create a new select committee in the next Congress to evaluate Capitol security.

“I’m not confident we’re any more secure than we were back then,” he said.

Emily Brooks contributed.